### Summary of directives hledger's directives are based on Ledger's, but there are many differences (and also some between hledger versions). Directives' behaviour and interactions can get a little bit [complex](https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/issues/793), especially with multiple files, so here is a table summarising them and their effects. | directive | end directive | subdirectives | purpose | can affect (as of 2018/06) |:------------------|:--------------------|:----------------|:-------------------------------------------------------------------|:--------------------------------------------- | [`account`] | | any text | declare an account name & optional account code | account code: balance reports (except `balance` single-column mode) | [`alias`] | `end aliases` | | rewrite account names | following inline/included entries until end of current file or end directive | [`apply account`] | `end apply account` | | prepend a common parent to account names | following inline/included entries until end of current file or end directive | [`comment`] | `end comment` | | ignore part of journal | following inline/included entries until end of current file or end directive | [`commodity`] | | `format` | declare a commodity and its number notation & display style | number notation: following entries in that commodity in all files;
display style: amounts of that commodity in reports | [`D`] | | | declare a commodity, number notation & display style for commodityless amounts | commodity: all commodityless entries in all files;
number notation: following commodityless entries and entries in that commodity in all files;
display style: amounts of that commodity in reports | [`include`] | | | include entries/directives from another file | what the included directives affect | [`P`] | | | declare a market price for a commodity | amounts of that commodity in reports, when -V is used | [`Y`] | | | declare a year for yearless dates | following inline/included entries until end of current file [`account`]: http://hledger.org/journal.html#declaring-accounts [`alias`]: http://hledger.org/journal.html#rewriting-accounts [`apply account`]: http://hledger.org/journal.html#default-parent-account [`comment`]: http://hledger.org/journal.html#comment-blocks [`commodity`]: http://hledger.org/journal.html#declaring-commodities [`D`]: http://hledger.org/journal.html#default-commodity [`include`]: http://hledger.org/journal.html#including-other-files [`P`]: http://hledger.org/journal.html#market-prices [`Y`]: http://hledger.org/journal.html#default-year #### Definitions: ||| |:----------------|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | subdirective | optional indented directive or unparsed text lines immediately following a parent directive | account code | numeric code influencing account display order in most balance reports | number notation | how to interpret numbers when parsing journal entries (the identity of the decimal separator character). Currently each commodity can have its own notation, even in the same file. | display style | how to display amounts of a commodity in reports (symbol side and spacing, digit groups, decimal separator, decimal places) | directive scope | which entries and (when there are multiple files) which files are affected by a directive